I have a Sienna, and thats an awesome kitecar and I sleep in it if I need to, my regular kitecar is a civic with 305,000km on it.. ...

I got a Toyota Sienna also ; wish it was the all wheel drive one for off-road, Idrive a lot of dirt. It does ok on gas, but Not for the Canadian prices ; gets about25m/g if i keep it under 70mph.

Here is my wish-list for a kite-car :A Honda Civic with a carbon frame that's bin Stretched about 6ft. I'd like it to have a Pop-top with tent sides that fold out for sleeping, and spray the finish with a plastic something that looks like dirt. Same size motor, but will need a few more gears.

Smaller wagons/breaks allowing keeping your struts inflated (the kites dry on the way home)Wagons/breaks consume less as they have a lower heightMake sure you can sit comfortable on the edge of the booth (bottom needs to match the car body) for putting on wetsuit and boots.Hence a VW Golf is not good. A VW Golf variant neither.Ford Focus Clipper fits the bill.

polarstorm wrote:In the market for some wheels.. here is a hodgepodge of questions..

Need to do distance to get to the sweet spots, am in the great lakes region.

If you bought a car with kitesurfing as a factor, what car did you end up buying, and are you happy with it? Would you change anything..

One of my considerations is a regular (not wagon) VW Golf TDI for its stick + fuel economy + hatch feature, whats the maximum size surfboard that I can fit in that without portruding into the front cabin and preventing me from shifting gears? If would seem to me that even with a wagon, you still loose the two rear seats. Are there wagons where you can fit a surfboard inside and not lose rear seating?

Thanks in advance,

Shifting gears in the Golf is no issue. You can place your surfboard on the passenger front seat. A 5.7 fits more than easily and I guess a larger one fits also. I can put my 5.7 into the back of the Audi A6 Wagon so it rests on the rear bench and there is still enough space left and right to sit for two people.

Dirk wrote:Shifting gears in the Golf is no issue. You can place your surfboard on the passenger front seat. A 5.7 fits more than easily and I guess a larger one fits also. I can put my 5.7 into the back of the Audi A6 Wagon so it rests on the rear bench and there is still enough space left and right to sit for two people.

Thanks for the feedback so far guys. So just to clarify on the Golf, I usually travel with kiter friends, so I'd want the passenger seat available. Does anyone how one and can they stow a surfboard (lets say 5'10" max length) in the back even skewed? TDI, regular, not extended wagon.

Hi - when I was 15 (we get our licenses early where I grew up) I had a Golf - with the seats folded down, my 6'2" always fitted inside just fine, with the nose slotting between the two front seats and the passenger seat clear....you should have no problems.

Only question mark is that historically the wacky folk in the US always used to insist that their model had a boot (trunk) rather than a hatch. Don't think it existed in any other markets and was pig ugly. Not sure if thats where you're from - if its the US, I assume (hope) that youre now getting access to actual Golfs! If not, then disregard everything I've just said....I have no idea about the non-hatch.

Jono 111 wrote:Hi - when I was 15 (we get our licenses early where I grew up) I had a Golf - with the seats folded down, my 6'2" always fitted inside just fine, with the nose slotting between the two front seats and the passenger seat clear....you should have no problems.

Only question mark is that historically the wacky folk in the US always used to insist that their model had a boot (trunk) rather than a hatch. Don't think it existed in any other markets and was pig ugly. Not sure if thats where you're from - if its the US, I assume (hope) that youre now getting access to actual Golfs! If not, then disregard everything I've just said....I have no idea about the non-hatch.

Thanks, Canada. We are effectively the same market, we only get vehicles that are approved for all 50 states to begin with. The new MK7 is supposed to be lowered and with more more room as well.

Dirk wrote:Shifting gears in the Golf is no issue. You can place your surfboard on the passenger front seat. A 5.7 fits more than easily and I guess a larger one fits also. I can put my 5.7 into the back of the Audi A6 Wagon so it rests on the rear bench and there is still enough space left and right to sit for two people.

Thanks for the feedback so far guys. So just to clarify on the Golf, I usually travel with kiter friends, so I'd want the passenger seat available. Does anyone how one and can they stow a surfboard (lets say 5'10" max length) in the back even skewed? TDI, regular, not extended wagon.

Used to rock a golf, fold down the seats, throw in 2 twin tips, lay down 2 kite bags at the front of the folded down seat. on top of twin tips. shove surfboard into the middle so that it rests on the kites, it's now elevated so it won't bother the shifter or center console. or your arms much, My SB was a 6'2... 5 kites, 3 boards (big surfy, one with boots) and still had room and could see out all windows.